Amber Sekoll
EDC 102H
Dr. Fogelman
September 20, 2013
Truth be told, I have always been disappointed in the lack of courses that my high school had to offer its students. Our school never had much money, which meant that it couldn’t hire any more teachers to teach more classes, or pay for the materials needed for those courses. Despite the fact that my high school was lacking in course variety, I still feel very lucky to have gotten the education I did over the last four years. Thanks to the excellent teaching staff, course rigor, and the incredible extracurricular activities that my school did have to offer, I was able to make the most of what I had to work with. Thankfully, this has put me in a good place as a student and a citizen.
I believe that the most important resource a student has in high school is his or her guidance counselor. Unfortunately for students in my high school, our guidance staff is definitely below par. With only two guidance counselors to take care of 500 students, no student received the right amount of attention needed to get by. Thankfully, the teachers at my high school stepped in to help students the best that they could. They gave students the right amount of personal and academic support to make sure they were lead down the right path to succeed. Many of the teachers I had acted as mentor for their students, and would help them with things like college applications, giving advice during tough times, and teaching them good studying and note taking skills to get good grades in their classes. Two of the most influential teachers I had were my Spanish teacher, Mrs. DellaVolpe, and my homeroom/anatomy teacher, Mrs. Chambers. They were my mentors throughout high school, and were always there to help me with anything. If I ever had a bad day, I could go and talk to them about it. Even if I needed help studying for another class, they would always be there to give me advice about how to approach the test. Without these two wonderful teachers, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to be successful in high school. They were my “biggest fans” who helped me become the best student and person I could be.
During high school, whenever I wasn’t in class, you could always find me at track or cross-country practice. Every day after school and on Saturday, I had practice from 3-5pm, and some meets lasted up to twelve hours. Track and cross-country took up my entire extra-cirricular time for the most part, so I would definitely say that the sports had the biggest influence on me. Doing sports in high school was helpful because it taught me how to manage my time with school work and practice. Having my life consumed by the sports also led me to have a very close relationship with the whole team. Spending so much time together, everyone on the team quickly became the best of friends, because to us, practice was our social life! This strong bond with my team taught met the importance of doing your part as a team member to achieve a goal as a team. I was able to put this skill to use in my school work by applying one hundred percent of my effort into my academics, just like I did at practices and meets. Track taught me what it truly means to dedicate everything you’ve got into reaching a goal, or in the case of academics, getting an A.
When it comes to the most influential people from high school, mine were definitely my coaches. Even though I never learned how to integrate functions or about Kennedy’s response to the Cuban Missile crisis from them, they taught me much more important things that I could incorporate into my student life. They taught me how to be confident in anything I do. I learned that if I’ve worked hard for something, I should be confident in my abilities to succeed at that task. My coaches also taught me how to set goals, then create a plan for reaching that goal. This lesson has been invaluable for me as a student; it has allowed me to achieve what I would have thought impossible. For example, last year, I took AP Calculus, and in the beginning of the year, I wasn’t confident with any of my work, and I thought it would be impossible for me to get a 3 or higher on the AP test. Taking my coaches encouraging advice into this class, I was able to take a step back and re-evaluate my goals. I worked very hard in and out of class until I became confident in completing every assignment, then set a goal for myself to get a 5 on the AP test. The whole month before the test, I studied for at least an hour and a half a day until I felt sure that I couldn’t possibly be more prepared for the test. My coaches always taught me to be confident and set high goals on the track, but interpreting this advice into my school work helped me get a 5 on an AP test that I originally thought I would fail.
While a lot of high school was fun and games, I would say that I got a pretty good education. Even though I sometimes felt gipped of opportunity, I’m thankful that I had such good teachers and coaches to help push me down the path of success. Without their advice, support, and encouragement, I would not have been able to make the most out of high school. My high school experience has shaped me into the student I am today.
EDC 102H
Dr. Fogelman
September 20, 2013
Truth be told, I have always been disappointed in the lack of courses that my high school had to offer its students. Our school never had much money, which meant that it couldn’t hire any more teachers to teach more classes, or pay for the materials needed for those courses. Despite the fact that my high school was lacking in course variety, I still feel very lucky to have gotten the education I did over the last four years. Thanks to the excellent teaching staff, course rigor, and the incredible extracurricular activities that my school did have to offer, I was able to make the most of what I had to work with. Thankfully, this has put me in a good place as a student and a citizen.
I believe that the most important resource a student has in high school is his or her guidance counselor. Unfortunately for students in my high school, our guidance staff is definitely below par. With only two guidance counselors to take care of 500 students, no student received the right amount of attention needed to get by. Thankfully, the teachers at my high school stepped in to help students the best that they could. They gave students the right amount of personal and academic support to make sure they were lead down the right path to succeed. Many of the teachers I had acted as mentor for their students, and would help them with things like college applications, giving advice during tough times, and teaching them good studying and note taking skills to get good grades in their classes. Two of the most influential teachers I had were my Spanish teacher, Mrs. DellaVolpe, and my homeroom/anatomy teacher, Mrs. Chambers. They were my mentors throughout high school, and were always there to help me with anything. If I ever had a bad day, I could go and talk to them about it. Even if I needed help studying for another class, they would always be there to give me advice about how to approach the test. Without these two wonderful teachers, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to be successful in high school. They were my “biggest fans” who helped me become the best student and person I could be.
During high school, whenever I wasn’t in class, you could always find me at track or cross-country practice. Every day after school and on Saturday, I had practice from 3-5pm, and some meets lasted up to twelve hours. Track and cross-country took up my entire extra-cirricular time for the most part, so I would definitely say that the sports had the biggest influence on me. Doing sports in high school was helpful because it taught me how to manage my time with school work and practice. Having my life consumed by the sports also led me to have a very close relationship with the whole team. Spending so much time together, everyone on the team quickly became the best of friends, because to us, practice was our social life! This strong bond with my team taught met the importance of doing your part as a team member to achieve a goal as a team. I was able to put this skill to use in my school work by applying one hundred percent of my effort into my academics, just like I did at practices and meets. Track taught me what it truly means to dedicate everything you’ve got into reaching a goal, or in the case of academics, getting an A.
When it comes to the most influential people from high school, mine were definitely my coaches. Even though I never learned how to integrate functions or about Kennedy’s response to the Cuban Missile crisis from them, they taught me much more important things that I could incorporate into my student life. They taught me how to be confident in anything I do. I learned that if I’ve worked hard for something, I should be confident in my abilities to succeed at that task. My coaches also taught me how to set goals, then create a plan for reaching that goal. This lesson has been invaluable for me as a student; it has allowed me to achieve what I would have thought impossible. For example, last year, I took AP Calculus, and in the beginning of the year, I wasn’t confident with any of my work, and I thought it would be impossible for me to get a 3 or higher on the AP test. Taking my coaches encouraging advice into this class, I was able to take a step back and re-evaluate my goals. I worked very hard in and out of class until I became confident in completing every assignment, then set a goal for myself to get a 5 on the AP test. The whole month before the test, I studied for at least an hour and a half a day until I felt sure that I couldn’t possibly be more prepared for the test. My coaches always taught me to be confident and set high goals on the track, but interpreting this advice into my school work helped me get a 5 on an AP test that I originally thought I would fail.
While a lot of high school was fun and games, I would say that I got a pretty good education. Even though I sometimes felt gipped of opportunity, I’m thankful that I had such good teachers and coaches to help push me down the path of success. Without their advice, support, and encouragement, I would not have been able to make the most out of high school. My high school experience has shaped me into the student I am today.